DraftKings DFS World Cup Picks for Wednesday, June 17: Portugal and Colombia Headline a Four-Game Slate
Portugal and Colombia are the two teams to target on Wednesday's four-game DraftKings World Cup slate, led by Bruno Fernandes and James Rodriguez.
Wednesday gives us four games on DraftKings, a 1:00 PM ET start through a 10:00 PM close. Two favorites stand out. Portugal are around 75 percent to beat DR Congo and the biggest favorite on the board, and Colombia are around 70 percent over Uzbekistan. England are favored against Croatia but it's tighter than the names suggest, and Ghana are only slight favorites against Panama in a game the market sees ending close to a draw.
One thing on Portugal: they rotate, the bench is deep, and a big lead invites early subs, so the studs there carry some blowout risk even in a great matchup.
Come talk lineups in the RotoWire Discord before lock. Here's how I'm attacking it.
WORLD CUP MATCHES (ET)
- 1:00 pm: Portugal vs. DR Congo
- 4:00 pm: England vs. Croatia
- 7:00 pm: Ghana vs. Panama
- 10:00 pm: Uzbekistan vs. Colombia
For detailed stats and odds, check out the DraftKings Fantasy Soccer: World Cup Cheat Sheet.
Hit up our Discord with more questions.
FORWARDS
The forward floors live on the two big favorites and in Ghana, with Portugal's depth adding some rotation noise at the top.
Jordan Ayew (GHA vs PAN, $6,900)
Ayew is forward-eligible on DraftKings and carries one of the best floors on the slate at $6,900. Ghana are slight favorites against Panama, and without any other notable set-piece taker like Mohammed Kudus available, there's a chance Ayew takes every corner and free kick. While that's maybe wishful thinking, he'll be on a split. Even better, his qualification numbers were unfathomable. In a stat I'll never understand, he had seven goals and seven assists in 10 qualifying matches. Kudus and Antoine Semenyo, two arguably better and younger players, combined for three goals and two assists. Ayew is insane.
The rest of the forward list is kind of ugly. It's full of boom-or-bust options and most of them have bad prices.
Luis Diaz (COL vs UZB, $9,500)
Diaz is the best piece of a Colombia side around 70 percent to win. He's +115 to score, some of the best odds on the board, and he's a vital piece to Colombia's attack. It's a good spot and Colombia are more likely to go to Diaz's side than Jhon Arias or whoever is on the opposite.
Cristiano Ronaldo ($9,700) is -140 for the biggest favorite and will surely be popular. I'm not sure I'll get there in cash games or really any game. I don't want to play Ronaldo in DFS.
Bernardo Silva ($5,800) is forward-eligible and may not be a terrible play. He could steal a set and figures to play in a more attacking role than he did at Manchester City. It's always tough to click his name in DFS, but he's cheap and a forward option. Joao Neves ($4,300) is even cheaper even if playing him at forward is weird.
Harry Kane ($10,000) is +130 for England and could be the most popular forward in tournaments because of name. While England are a shorter favorite, I don't think Croatia are an amazing team. No matter who starts on the right wing for England will be hard to trust because of playing time.
MIDFIELDERS
The two best midfield floors on the slate sit on the two best teams.
James Rodriguez (COL vs UZB, $8,800)
Rodriguez could have the highest floor of any player on the slate and runs everything for Colombia, with +195 scorer odds on top. At $8,800 with that floor, he's a pretty easy piece to build around unless you decide to spend up at both forward spots. I'll be concerned about his fitness level at some point in the future, but I'm not worried about it in this matchup.
Bruno Fernandes (POR vs COD, $9,900)
Fernandes is the engine for the slate's biggest favorite and will probably be the most popular play on the slate. He's +195 to score, too. It'll be hard to fade him in all formats. While you're paying for it, the matchup is too good to completely fade. His floor could reach the 15-point range and that's before any possible goals or assists.
Jhon Arias ($5,700) is the Colombia value with a potentially nice floor. Declan Rice ($7,700) anchors England and will take the majority of their set pieces. Luka Modric ($6,200) is the way into Croatia, but this isn't peak Modric and it's a terrible matchup. It still makes sense to go there if you're in that range.
DEFENDERS
Nuno Mendes headlines a group where you either pay up for the elite floor or punt to the minimum, with little reason to sit in the middle.
Nuno Mendes (POR vs COD, $6,500)
Mendes has the best defender floor on the slate. He's Portugal's left-back on the biggest favorite, the team has the top clean-sheet odds at around 50 percent, and he gets forward constantly. Even better, there's a real chance he splits corners with Bruno Fernandes, further helping his case.
Gideon Mensah (GHA vs PAN, $3,400)
Mensah is the cheap end of that barbell, a full-back at $3,400 who stays busy for a favored Ghana. That price with a real floor is what frees cap for the studs.
Daniel Munoz ($4,900) is the Colombia right-back, the one mid-priced defender I'll pay for since the floor and Colombia's clean sheet are both real. Joao Cancelo ($5,600) is the other Portugal full-back if he starts.
Eric Davis ($5,000) will probably be overlooked, but the matchup isn't bad and he expects to be on at least a split of set pieces for Panama.
GOALKEEPER
Diogo Costa (POR vs COD, $6,000)
Portugal have the best clean-sheet odds on the slate, around 50 percent, as the biggest favorite, and Costa will probably be fairly popular because of it.
I think Lionel Mpasi ($3,600) is worth a play if you don't fully trust Portugal's attack. Similarly, I don't think Ghana are good and while it's Panama, Orlando Mosquera ($4,300) could be a fine spend-down option.
